American Go E-Journal » 2009 » December

ONLINE LEAGUE TO LAUNCH IN 2010: With fifty players signed up, the online Korean-style International Live Leagues are getting ready to launch in January 2010, reports KILL founder Alexandr Dinerchtein, who says that two more professionals — An Young-gil 8P and Lee Hajin 3P – have signed on to participate as well. While the leagues are filled up, organizers are putting new registrants on a waiting list of players who will be able to watch all the lectures while they await an opening in the leagues. Click here for details and to sign up, or email backpast@gmail.com– Peter Dijkema

“A game struggling for United States recognition made the national stage when President Barack Obama presented China Premier Hu Jintao with a go game set as a diplomatic gift in early November,” reported Erin Wiltgen in the Durham (NC) Herald Sun last week. “Frank Salantrie, a Carrboro carpenter, crafted the board that set the go community abuzz,” the article continues. “’The go community is crazy over this,” said Paul Celmer, chapter head of the Triangle Go Club and a member of the American Go Association’s board of directors. ‘This is the biggest thing that’s happened to us in years. We’re excited the president saw enough respect for our game, whereas most people haven’t even heard of the game.’” Update: the two stories are now in the Sun’s archives: “Local carpenter whips up a presidential gift Obama presents go board to Chinese Premier Hu Jintao” and “Game of go gets exposure” available (for a fee) here.

CORRECTIONS: Tetsuki allows players to connect to IGS, not KGS (Iphone/Ipod Apps, 12/7 EJ); apparently there’s no way, yet, to connect to KGS via the iPhone. However, for Android cellphone users, “there may be hope to connect to KGS, as per a thread on GoDiscussions.com,” reports Brian Kirby.

The TV show Criminal Minds recently aired an episode in which a suspect’s house is raided and found a go set in an upstairs room, reports Alan Wadja. “A team member, a genius with 3 Caltech PhDs and IQ of 187, glances briefly at the board, pronounces that he is playing against himself and quickly assesses his playing style to provide insight into the suspect’s personality,” says Wadja. “It would be interesting if someone could capture the board position from this episode, figure out if it makes any sense, in fact is the game of a player of the “highly aggressive” style (and whether he played both sides with equal aggressiveness), if the position is taken from a real game and who the go advisor is.”

The American Go Foundation (AGF) has created a new “umbrella grant” program that allows any qualifying US go organization or individual to use the AGF’s tax status for their go projects. The program was created at the instigation of Bay Area organizer Roger Schrag, who had helped form the Bay Area Go Players’ Association (BAGPA) and wanted to incorporate as a 501c3, allowing them to give donors a tax break, and to apply for grants to support teaching programs and other go-related events in their community. Many foundations will only fund groups with 501c3 status, and getting this status can take months, often requires a lawyer, and then needs significant maintenance. With the umbrella grant program, the AGF acts as the fiscal agent for the program, and routes the donations or grants to the local program. AGF VP Paul Barchilon has raised almost $10,000 for his go clubs through similar programs in Colorado, and the AGF modeled their new program on a local umbrella grant Barchilon had used. Click here to learn more — raising funds to teach go in your community might be easier than you think!– Roy Laird

XEBO WINS ST NICK TOURNEY IN BRAUNSCHWEIG: A 4-dan from Göttingen who just goes by the name Xebo won the 27th St. Nicolas tourney December 5-6 in Braunschweig, Germany, ahead of locals Alexander Kirchner 2d (2nd) and Kai Tomerius , who shared 3d with Mathias Maurer 4d from Langen. Click here for results. – Peter Dijkema, European Correspondent, from a report at dgob.de

HUNGARIAN LEAGUE: Pagoda leads the Hungarian league with maximum match-points from 3 rounds, ahead of MGE and Origó, which drew one each. Sanrensei is 4th at 2 wins and a loss. Next round, two top-pairings are up: MGE-Pagoda and Sanrensei-Origó. In Hungary they play a round every fortnight. The league has eight teams of 9 players. – Peter Dijkema, , European Correspondent, after http://goszovetseg.hu/

CHINA WINS 7TH JAPAN-CHINA AGON CUP: Sun Tengyu 4P of China defeated Japan’s Hane Haoki 9P by 3.5 points on December 9th to win this year’s Japan-China Agon Cup. The match between the winners of the Japanese and the Chinese Agon Cup tournaments has been a painful experience for the Japanese lately, as the Chinese Cup holders have now won seven straight matches. Sun is a teen whose only title before winning the Chinese version of the Agon Cup (Ahan Tongshan Cup) this year was the National Individual championship in 2008. Hane is in his thirties and has been a major player on the Japanese pro scene. He is the current Honinbo and held the number one Japanese title, the Kisei, in both 2004 and 2005. In the Chinese event, Sun defeated both Gu Li, China’s current top title holder, and Piao Wenyao 5P, another of the strong young Chinese pros. – Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld

CHO HANSEUNG WINS GS CALTEX CUP: Cho Hanseung 9P took the fourth game of the Korean GS Caltex Cup to take the title away from Park Yeonghun 9P by a score of 3-1. Park only won the third game. The GS Caltex Cup is one of the richest among Korean events. In his twenties, Cho’s most recent previous title was the Chunwon, which he won by defeating Lee Sedol 9P in 2006. Park, also in his twenties, has had a more illustrious career, toped off by winning the international Fujitsu twice, in 2004 and 2007. – Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld

LEE CHANGHO WINS MYEONGIN: Lee Changho 9P defeated Won Sungjin 9P 3-1 to capture the Korean Myeongin (J: Meijin) title for the thirteenth time. Lee won the decisive fourth game of the match on December 10th by a mere half point. Lee, now in his thirties, has not been so dominant lately, but still wins important titles. His last international title was the LG Cup in 2004. Won is ten years younger and has won only two titles so far, both in 2007: the BC Card Cup and the Chunwon. – Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld

CHO U EVENS MATCH IN TENGEN DEFENSE: The Tengen now goes to a decisive fifth game as Cho U 9P leveled the match in defense of his title against challenger Yamashita Keigo 9P. Yamashita went ahead 2-1 by winning the third game on December 3rd, but Cho came back on December 10th to take the fourth of the best-of-five-games match. So far Black has won every game by resignation. The final is scheduled for December 22nd. – Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld, Sensei’s Library

DAVIS WINS 2ND IRISH CHAMPIONSHIP: Ian Davis beat Claas Roever 2-1 (date) to take the 2009 Irish Championship title. The championship came down to a final, tense game, “As usual between these two it was a game that could have gone either way,” reported Stephen (last name) on the Irish Go Association website. “After repeating the opening of the second game, Claas took an early lead by switching to a Gibson style strategy using some risky opening plays. However somewhere in the middlegame he lost his way, and Ian forced resignation after a devious invasion.” This was Davis’ second Irish title; he has another 14 wins to pass all time Irish title record holder Noel Mitchell. Davis, President of the Irish Go Association and Irish Correspondent for the E-Journal, credited altitude training in County Donegal for his win. Click here for the record of the final game.

Cho U 9P’s efforts to avoid losing another of his titles has become an uphill fight in the Tengen. On December 3rd Challenger Yamashita Keigo 9P won the third game of the best-of-five-games title match to take a 2-1 lead. Cho won this title last year for the first time. Yamashita has also held the title for one year, 2004. He lost it the next year to Kono Rin 9P and failed to retake it as challenger the next two years. Cho held five of the top seven Japanese titles at the beginning of this year, but lost the Meijin to Iyama Yuta 9P in November. The fourth game in the Tengen match is scheduled for December 10th.– Bill Cobb, from Go News & GoGameWorld

The best-of-five-games match between Lee Changho 9P and Won Sungjin 9P (right) for the Meyongin (Japanese: Meijin) title in Korea was tied at 1-1 when Won won the second game on December 3rd by 1.5 points. The last winner of this title was Lee Sedol 9P, but since he has taken a temporary leave of absence from the pro scene, the title holder will be decided by this match. Lee Changho has won this title twelve times since first taking it from Cho Hunhyun 9P in 1991. Won’s latest title victories were the BC Card Cup and the Chunwon in 2007. He is ten years younger than Lee Changho.– Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld & Sensei’s Library

On December 2nd, Park Yeonghun 9P avoided a shut-out in the the GS Caltex Cup when he defeated challenger Cho Hanseung 9P in Game 3 of their best-of-five-games title match. Park must win both remaining games to retain the title he has held for the last two years. The GS Caltex Cup is one of the most lucrative in Korea. Park has a more outstanding record of title wins than Cho by a significant margin. Both are in their twenties. Game four in the match is set for December 9th.– Bill Cobb, from Go News, GoGameWorld & Sensei’s Library